dace
/deɪs/
"dace" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dace” is uncommon English (frequency #82,208 among 26,416 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #82,208
- frequency rank, English
- 26,416
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A shoal-forming fish of species Leuciscus leuciscus, common to swift rivers in England and Wales and in Europe.
Corpus desk
Index EN-dace · dace · English
dace · rank #82,208 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #82,208
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 26,416
- PHOTO-FINISH Cyrene
Nearest frequency peer: Cyrene (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “dace”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- cumbia
cumbia
17,796 corpus weight
- Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica
17,795 corpus weight
- Cyrene
Cyrene
17,794 corpus weight
- dace
dace
17,793 corpus weight
- Dalzell
Dalzell
17,792 corpus weight
- Daoist
Daoist
17,790 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “dace” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dace |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /deɪs/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #82,208 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dace” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
dace is uncommon English at frequency #82,208 among 26,416 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /deɪs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for dace, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Old variant of earlier darse, from Late Middle English darse (also as dace already), from Old French darz, oblique plural form of dart (“spear; javelin”). For a similar loss of r, compare bass, while for the pronunciation with /eɪ/, see scarce. The correct English form is dace, spelled D-A-C-E.
Definition
- 1A shoal-forming fish of species Leuciscus leuciscus, common to swift rivers in England and Wales and in Europe.
- 2Any of various related small fish of the family Cyprinidae that live in freshwater and are native to North America.
Etymology
Old variant of earlier darse, from Late Middle English darse (also as dace already), from Old French darz, oblique plural form of dart (“spear; javelin”). For a similar loss of r, compare bass, while for the pronunciation with /eɪ/, see scarce.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "dace", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.